However the Government Shutdown as a result of ongoing fights over Obamacare, the Debt Ceiling and the Budget have dominate headlines and Congressional debate and importantly media airtime, has meant Immigration debate in the House has been relegated to an after thought. Furthermore House Speaker, John Boehner has indicated the Senate passed Immigration reform will not be able to pass the Republican majority House. The major gripe being the pathway to eventual US Citizenship clause for approximately 11 Million undocumented immigrants.

Now in the second half of October 2013 with Immigration debate barely in its infancy in House and the notorious partisanship of that chamber, the anti-Obama wing in the Republican party, the slow moving nature of getting any legislation done let alone major ones and the fact there is not many weeks between the slower Thanksgiving to Christmas period, prospects look more bleak.

The tragedy is that the reasons for US Immigration Reform still are constant and ever growing and there at least seems to be enough of a bi-partisan acknowledgment from the saner member in Washington that continuing ignorance of the problems is not an option nor is in the best interests of the United States. However this means putting our collective faith and trust in the US Congress and in its expediency which even when it comes to universally supported, non controversial and minor changes like extension of Veterans benefits, money via lobby groups, the media and general stupidity get in the way.

The reason for the major push now by President Obama by doing the media rounds, major Immigration lobby groups like Mark Zuckerberg’s FWD.us and many Hispanic focus Immigration support groups and even aspirational Republican presidential candidates in 2016 is that if this extends past 2013 into the mid-term election year of 2014 it is likely it would be at least 2015 before anything could happen.

So is Immigration Reform in 2013, dead or alive? … well in a poetic way it is on life support in serious need of major transplant. Is there a donor somewhere in American willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause?